Making a Beach Run Tomorrow

[Johnny-Max]

Heading to the beach tomorrow, from High Island to Port Bolivar, East of the Galveston Ferry. Not a great day for it, high tide and a strong South wind, 18 mph and gusting. I may not collect much surf side, but it shoud be great inside the jetties. With the strong south wind and high tide the water will be pushed in from offshore. I am collecting 15 gallons of live seawater. I will collect 2 gallons of live sand inside the jetty, north of the ferry landing. What I am most excited about is the plankton net I am making. I need to finish it tomorrow. Ihope it works. It will be made from a 75 micron mesh filter bag Igot a while back of Amazon. I should be able to harvest plenty of plankton, hoping anyway. Then I can start the setup of my reef tank. I will try to remember to take pics. I normally forget.

 

[Saltyreef]

Heading to the beach tomorrow, from High Island to Port Bolivar, East of the Galveston Ferry. Not a great day for it, high tide and a strong South wind, 18 mph and gusting. I may not collect much surf side, but it shoud be great inside the jetties. With the strong south wind and high tide the water will be pushed in from offshore. I am collecting 15 gallons of live seawater. I will collect 2 gallons of live sand inside the jetty, north of the ferry landing. What I am most excited about is the plankton net I am making. I need to finish it tomorrow. Ihope it works. It will be made from a 75 micron mesh filter bag Igot a while back of Amazon. I should be able to harvest plenty of plankton, hoping anyway. Then I can start the setup of my reef tank. I will try to remember to take pics. I normally forget.

Hopefully not too much pollution in the area. Good luck!

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Please post some pics of your catch!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Can't wait to see pictures!!

 

[Johnny-Max]

It was a horrible day with winds blowing 20 and gusting 35. Surf was very dirty and the tide was extra high.
I did get a bit of a surprise. I guess I never searched the beach for rock, always just shells. The heavy surf pushed up some rock. What looked like fossilized coral, not sure. I got a 5 gallon bucket of it.
I also got a gallon or two of live silty sand from inside the jetty.
I caught some clear shrimp and picked up a few hermit crabs. I like to round moon shells.
I actually saw a small sea anemone on the side is a rock. I got it off but it was so slick it slipped from between my fingers. Still mad at me for not being more careful. Next low tide I bet I could get hundreds if I so had a mind to.
I did not really try the plankton net because of the wind and waves. I will save that for next time.

My back hurts!
60 years old and been sitting at a desk way too much!
I will remedy that!

Here are s few of the rocks I found. Most were not very big though, just one of goof size.

 

[dedragon]

Definitely cool to do but make sure to look up local collection laws to make sure you can do this just to be safe. I would probably wait a month and do an ICP test to make sure nothing funky was going on from pollution. Any plans for a biotope aquarium with mostly local life or just supplementing with live ocean material?

 

[Saltyreef]

Since you are in the gulf, the temperature can get from 60 in winter to 85 degrees so most of the life you collect should be ok to go into any temp tank.

Nice catch!

 

[collins.jason.k]

@Johnny-Max
I'm jealous. I am a native Galvestonian myself and didn't get into saltwater fish and reef keeping til I got to Indiana. Wish I had the ability to scavenge my own rocks, or even better take some fresh Marco rocks and load up a crab trap with them and tuck them away somewhere along the shore for awhile.

 

[Johnny-Max]

Definitely cool to do but make sure to look up local collection laws to make sure you can do this just to be safe. I would probably wait a month and do an ICP test to make sure nothing funky was going on from pollution. Any plans for a biotope aquarium with mostly local life or just supplementing with live ocean material?

That is what I am doing, it is a Galveston Jetty Biotope.
I am curios to see what nasties emerge, if any.
I could not resist, I brought back marine life.
Hermit crabs, shrimp, small snails, fish I do not recognize and I found a few pieces of macro algae that floated up on the beach.

 

[ryanjohn1]

Cool idea to see what all pops up outta them rocks

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

That is what I am doing, it is a Galveston Jetty Biotope.
I am curios to see what nasties emerge, if any.
I could not resist, I brought back marine life.
Hermit crabs, shrimp, small snails, fish I do not recognize and I found a few pieces of macro algae that floated up on the beach.

Cool!
And as long as you have a fishing license, you're good

 

[Johnny-Max]

Cool!
And as long as you have a fishing license, you're good

I bout it that day

 

[Reefahholic]

I’ve collected all up and down the Gulf Coast.

You can check out some of the videos here:

 

[DIYreefer]

Very cool. You have my attention, I'll be following along!

 

[Johnny-Max]

I’ve collected all up and down the Gulf Coast.

You can check out some of the videos here:

LOL, It was your videos that opened my eyes. You are the reason I am doing a reef tank. I watched your videos of collecting multiple times. Thanks

 

[Gumbies R Us]

That is what I am doing, it is a Galveston Jetty Biotope.
I am curios to see what nasties emerge, if any.
I could not resist, I brought back marine life.
Hermit crabs, shrimp, small snails, fish I do not recognize and I found a few pieces of macro algae that floated up on the beach.

Wow that’s really neat!!

 

[Johnny-Max]

Wanting to make a another beach run Friday, but there is a 91% chance of rain. I want to hit the Jetty at low tide to get a bunch of Dahlia Anemones. I finally found out what species they are. I removed one from the Jetty that was above the water line last Friday. The rascal was so slippery, it slipped from between my fingers. I was so mad at myself for not paying attention. My tank is only running an OG of 1.02 which is better for these anemones. Learning on this tank.
I found this picture to show the different colors of these anemones.